A platforming video game franchise (with a focus on combat in later games) starring the eponymous purple dragon, Spyro. It was started in 1998 when Creator/{{Universal}} Interactive Studios commissioned Creator/InsomniacGames to make a child-oriented game on the original UsefulNotes/PlayStation. And it was decided that it'd star a dragon because, well, [[InstantAwesomeJustAddDragons you know]].

Seeing as making a platformer where the player can just fly over everything would've been difficult, it was decided this dragon would be a child, which had the added bonus of appealing to the target demographic. As a youngling, Spyro was able to glide rather than fly freely (though he was able to fly in special levels and in later games via a temporary powerup).

Although the series was a hit, Insomniac left after the third game, partly because they felt it was difficult to create varied gameplay when the main playable character is a quadruped (their next series, ''Franchise/RatchetAndClank'', made heavy use of gadgets and weapons). The following Spyro games tried to rectify this issue by adding in various gimmicks, such as multiple elemental breaths, combat, and eventually even unlimited free flight.

Creator/{{Activision}} is the current developer/producer/distributor of the franchise through its Creator/{{Sierra}} subsidiary.

The series has been rebooted twice (and one could argue the non-Insomniac games in the classic series are in their own continuity as well as they aren't always totally in line with the original trilogy's canon). The first reboot, ''The Legend of Spyro'', was DarkerAndEdgier, while the second reboot, ''Skylanders'', returned to the lightness of the classic series while also spinning off its own hugely successful franchise and kicking off the "Toys to Life" genre.

The Spyro franchise has a long history of crossing over with the ''Franchise/CrashBandicoot'' games. Their initial developers, Insomniac and Creator/NaughtyDog have been close allies for years. They worked on Spyro and Crash literally right next to each other, in the same room. ''Franchise/JakAndDaxter'' and ''Franchise/RatchetAndClank'' have a similar relationship for the same reason.

Additionally, a redesigned Spyro taking traits from both the classic and ''Legend'' versions serves as the leader of the Skylanders in Activisions's ''VideoGame/{{Skylanders}}'' series. [[WhatCouldHaveBeen Originally, the series was going to be called]] ''Spyro's Kingdom'' and star an adult Spyro (though whether this would be classic, ''Legend of Spyro'', or a fresh continuity is unclear) but eventually his role was replaced with Portal Master Eon and Spyro was given another redesign closer in age to his other-continuity counterparts. The focus on Spyro was reduced, with only a couple characters, the iconic sheep, and some references [[AllThereInTheManual in the games' lore]] staying in the final game, with Spyro's name being reduced to only the subtitle of the first game: ''Skylanders: Spyro's Adventure.'' In the games themselves, Spyro only ever has brief cameos in the cutscenes and is treated as no more or less important than the other Skylanders.

However, the Skylanders spinoff material treats Spyro as the main protagonist and leader of the Skylanders, which means, thanks to the series' popularity, Spyro is beginning to have a starring role outside of video games. He makes prominent appearances in the Skylanders prequel novels and {{Interquel}} comics from Creator/IDWPublishing, and, most notably, is a main character in the new ''WesternAnimation/SkylandersAcademy'' TV series voiced by [[Film/{{Accepted}} Justin Long]] ([[TheOtherDarrin as opposed to Josh Keaton in the actual games]]).

Skylanders media that stars Spyro:* Video games:** ''Skylanders: Spyro's Adventure'' - Despite being the title character, he has no especially prominent role in the story compared to the other Skylanders. The Spyro toy comes with the game's starter pack ([[SuperpoweredEvilSide Dark Spyro]] in the 3DS pack).** ''Skylanders: Imaginators'' - Spyro is one of the notable fan-favorite Skylanders that appeared in the actual storyline of the game (which also includes an appearance by Crash Bandicoot).* TV shows:** ''WesternAnimation/SkylandersAcademy''* Novels:** ''Skyanders: The Machine of Doom'' - Spyro is the main protagonist of this story.** ''Skylanders: Mask of Power'' series - Each book in this series features a different Skylander as the main protagonist. Spyro is the main protagonist of the first book, ''Spyro versus the Mega Monsters'', and a supporting protagonist in most of the other books. Cynder, who debuted in the ''Legend'' continuity, stars in the fifth book, ''Cynder Confronts the Weather Wizard''.[[index]]* Comic books:** ''Skylanders'' - The first twelve-issue comic series, set before ''Trap Team'', fleshes out Spyro's role as leader of the Skylanders. He gives an inspirational speech to a downtrodden Skylander in issue #4, and he and Cynder are given the spotlight in the ''Return of the Dragon King'' story arc, which introduces the Skylanders version of Malefor, who was previously the BigBad of the ''Legend'' trilogy.** ''Skylanders: Superchargers'' - This series, set after the ''Superchargers'' video game, focuses once again on Spyro's role as leader of the Skylanders and his trouble cooperating with a temporarily reformed enemy.

'''This game series has [[Characters/SpyroTheDragon character sheets]] for [[Characters/TheLegendOfSpyro all of]] the [[Characters/{{Skylanders}} separate continuities]], as well as a [[Narm/SpyroTheDragon narm page]] that covers the classic and Legend continuities.'''-------[[foldercontrol]]

[[folder:All games]]

* AmericanKirbyIsHardcore: Reversed. The Japanese promotional art tends to give Spyro a cuter design, with smaller proportioning and often lacking his usual sneer seen on Western art. The Japanese version of ''Season Of Ice'' even remade the cutscenes with the cuter redesigns.* AsLongAsThereIsEvil* BigBad: Each original game really had a stand alone BigBad, but Ripto was a recurring villain. He was ironically the big bad with the least effect on the plot in his original appearance. ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfSpyro'' trilogy had [[UltimateEvil Malefor]] as the main antagonist, though each game had a villain he was the ManBehindTheMan of, Cynder in the first and Gaul in the second, Skabb was also an arc BigBad in the second. ''Skylanders'' has the Portal Master Kaos as the primary enemy, though depending on the game and platform several other villains have taken the lead from time to time, and the Darkness is eventually introduced; the IDW comics also brought a ''Skylanders'' continuity Malefor in as a major villain.* BottomlessPit: In the levels that aren't [[FloatingContinent floating continents]].** Averted though, in ''Dawn of the Dragon'', due to Spyro and Cynder both being able to fly. If they fall into a BottomlessPit they'll eventually open their wings, and just hover there until you make them fly out.* ContinuityNod: Books describing the original three games can be found in ''Shadow Legacy''.** Pretty much the bulk of the first two ''Legend'' games.*** It is {{Creator/Sierra}} after all...* EleventhHourSuperpower: The final battle in ''Ripto's Rage!'' against Ripto himself, and [[spoiler: Dark Spyro]] in ''The Eternal Night''.** At least in ''Ripto's Rage!'', this was Ripto's EleventhHourSuperpower just the same as Spyro's. [[BestBossEver Awesomeness ensued.]]* EvilMinions: Every game has at least one enemy that doesn't fight and only runs and cowers from Spyro...or relentlessly taunt him when they are out of his reach.* KangaroosRepresentAustralia: Sheila.* EverythingsBetterWithMonkeys: Agent 9. Also an affectionate parody of... [[Film/JamesBond a certain spy genre icon.]]* EverythingsBetterWithPenguins: Flying, ex-RAF penguins, would you believe?* EverythingTryingToKillYou: Inverted. A lot of the on-screen creatures won't try to attack you. On the other hand, killing both the enemies and the peaceful animals has its own rewards, so in a way, this trope is ''reversed''.* FreeRotatingCamera: In the first trilogy, it's rotation only, and in other games it's rotation & tilt.* FunnyAnimal: Many of the level inhabitants from the second game onward.%%* IHaveComeTooFar* InstantAwesomeJustAddDragons: In [[MetaConcepts meta concept]] in regards to the originals on the [=PlayStation=], considering all the other games that were released on it at the time.** Also in some circles with the first three games, considering that there were several other characters you could play as, it was almost if as Spyro was just there to get you to buy the game. A gripe that has become [[HilariousInHindsight absolutely hilarious]] thanks to ''Skylanders'' infamously using the exact same tactic with the first game.* {{Jerkass}}: Moneybags. He's well aware that Spyro is the only person that can stop the BigBad and yet he'll still lower bridges and barricade doors and prevent you from continuing until you pay ''a small fee''. In the third game, he set up the obstacles and captured the characters for the Big Bad, for money. And subsequently freed them/let Spyro pass; for money.* KillItWithFire: Pretty much all of Spyro's enemies can be killed with his fire breath, with a few exceptions. Sometimes his fire breath needs to be upgraded.* LampshadeHanging: Frequent, often involving BreakingTheFourthWall.* MagicWand: The fairies' checkpoints; Ripto's scepter.* TheNapoleon: Ripto, obviously. Kaos also qualifies.** The UK instruction manual actually ''mentions'' Napoleon in Ripto's character bio. He fits the trope that well.* NitroExpress: Most of the early games have several missions which involve Spyro clearing a path for a character who has lit a bomb and must run it to a destination. Expect much restarting while you learn the path the characters in question take to their destination.* NonMammalMammaries: Surprisingly averted, despite the number of furry female characters. Many wear clothing that invokes the image but don't have the organs, except for Bianca, a [[Franchise/TombRaider Lara Croft]] spoof in Desert Ruins and possibly the Ice Princess.* OneGenderRace: Female dragons don't even show up until the hatchlings in ''Year of the Dragon''.** And in the ''Legend'' games, Cynder ends up being literally the only female dragon.* OneHundredPercentCompletion: Several ''Spyro'' games go beyond 100%.* OneUp: Trophies in the first game, glittering butterflies afterwards* OurDragonsAreDifferent: To the point where the dragons in the original series (Artisan, Peace Keeper, Magic Crafter, Beast Maker, Dream Weaver) are a lot different to the dragons in the ''Legend'' trilogy, where more emphasis is placed on color and element rather than realm and occupation. There are also the enemy "fire dragons" of The Sorceress's Fireworks Factory in ''YOTD'', which are nothing like anything else in the Spyro games.* OurFairiesAreDifferent: Act as checkpoints, for one thing.* ParentalBonus: ''Year of the Dragon'' is full of thrdr. Moneybags' comment regarding Sgt. Byrd and how 'he's [[Series/MontyPythonsFlyingCircus pining for the fjords]]' and the references to games like ''Franchise/TombRaider'' and ''Doom'', for example.* PlotCoupon: Dragon Statues, Talismans, Dragon Eggs, Dragonflies, and Light Gems, just to name a few.* RedshirtArmy: Not only does Spyro have to help out the hummingbird army in ''Year of the Dragon'', but also in ''Season of Ice''. Admittedly these are two different divisions of the Redshirt (or Rubythroat) Army, but that still doesn't say good things about their effectiveness.* RoadRunnerPC: While dashing, Spyro moves very fast.* ShoutOut: Many missions of ''Year of the Dragon'' have names which refer to other games, including ''Doom'', ''Tomb Raider'' and ''Crash Bandicoot''. In the Tomb Raider level, there's even a character named Tara, one letter off from Lara, and she's essentially a mouse wearing the same exact outfit as Lara Croft.** One cutscene in in the first game has Spyro saying [[VideoGame/ParappaTheRapper "You gotta believe!"]].** In ''A Hero's Tail'', the character Mergatroid (in Red's Laboratory) is the most blatant ShoutOut ever. He's a fat robot, wearing a red cap, red shirt and blue overalls... And the cap and overalls have a giant letter M on them. [[Franchise/SuperMarioBros Make it more obvious, why don't you?]]* SlippySlideyIceWorld* SuddenlyVoiced: Crush and Gulp in ''Enter the Dragonfly'', Sparx in ''Year of the Dragon''.* TertiarySexualCharacteristics: Female dragons have long eyelashes and wear collars, at least one of the babies even has bows on her horns. The two villainesses of ''Year of the Dragon'' possess eye shadow.* ThemeNaming: Spyro, Ember, and Flame the dragons; all the fireflies, many of the level inhabitants.** And every ''[[VideoGame/TheLegendOfSpyro Legend of Spyro]]'' dragon including Malefor, for that matter.* TrainingDummy: The sticks of the Gladiator Training Arena of Sunny Villa. The first two "Legend Of" game have living movie dummies.* UnnecessaryRoughness: The hockey minigames generally involve using Spyro's breath weapon on the opposition.* VagueAge: Spyro is implied to be twelve at the time of the third game. The games are implied to not follow ComicBookTime, and Spyro does mature in appearance and voice over the original series. Other dragons that are implied to be his age sound noticeably younger then him in ''A Hero's Tail'' so he's probably in his young teens, sixteen at most. Still, eggs are apparent in that game despite the fact that they only arrive once every twelve years. Subverted in ''The Legend of Spyro'' trilogy, as Spyro is confirmed to be twelve at the start of the first game.* VideogameCrueltyPotential: If there are cute, cuddly animals roaming a level, chances are, Spyro can kill them for health. They are actually called "fodder".* VideoGameFlight: Spyro has always been able to fly. However, because he's so young and his wings haven't fully grown, he could only ever glide without the assistance of magic until ''Dawn of the Dragon,'' which let him and Cynder fly freely.* XtremeKoolLetterz: The real word that Spyro comes from is actually spelled with an i (Spiro). Though it might be from a combination of the Greek word "pyro" (meaning "fire") and the Latin "spiro" (meaning "to breathe"), making it a MeaningfulName.** [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-GNnftq744I There is reasonable (and hilarious) evidence to support this claim.]][[/folder]]

[[folder:The classic trilogy]]* AbsentMindedProfessor: The Professor* AlienSky: Most levels have some truly gorgeous backdrops, including celestial phenomena like nebulae and other planets.* AlwaysLawfulGood: Fairies are said to always be on Spyro's side in the first game and he always has altruistic motives, at least when the plot gets into gear.* {{Badbutt}}: Spyro is a prime example, as are Hunter, Sheila and Agent 9.* BagOfSpilling: Mostly averted in Spyro's case in ''Year of the Dragon''. He's still able to swim, climb ladders and headbash, but he doesn't keep the Superflame ability awarded for HundredPercentCompletion ([[GameBreaker though it's for the best that he doesn't]]).** Played straight for Sparx in the same game. He forgets how to point to uncollected gems by holding down the shoulder buttons, but can relearn the ability in the second Sparx bonus level.* BearsAreBadNews: Moneybags, the resident greedy bastard of the series. Also the crystal bear enemies of Crystal Islands.* BerserkButton:** Don't call Gnasty Gnorc ugly.** Calling Ripto short isn't wise either.** Also, don't harm Spyro's friends in front of him unless you want to be on the wrong end of his flame breath.* BilingualBonus:** Spyro's name is a combination of the Latin spīrō (I breathe) and the Greek πῦρ (transliterated "pyr"; fire).** Some of the dragon hatchlings' names in ''Year of the Dragon'' have special meanings of their own. For example, the dragon in the egg held by the first thief in Molten Crater is named Moira, which means "fate" in Greek.* BossArenaRecovery:** Most of the bosses will have sheep drop down occasionally to replenish health.** It should be noted that one boss in the second game (Gulp) can, and if you're not fast, will eat small creatures and regain health.* BreathWeapon: Spyro is a dragon, after all.* BullyingADragon: At least half of the enemies tease Spyro in some way or form despite not being able to last long if he turns his horns or flames against them.* ButtMonkey: Hunter. He has has his feet locked in solid rock, thrown into a wall, stuck in a hole, battered with attacks aimed at Spyro, being kidnapped, etc...* CameraCentering: In passive camera mode* TheChewToy: Moneybags. [[JerkAss He deserves it though.]]* CirclingBirdies: Spyro sees stars if he takes damage.* CowardlyMooks:** The [[TheGoomba very first enemies]] in every entry were always this, being unable to even fight back.** In the first game, the green mages of the third world will panic whenever Spyro manages to get through their traps. The fifth world also has cowardly, harmless fools that you have to hit in order to activate certain platforms.** The first game and ''YOTD'' had egg thieves that you had to chase down in order to retrieve dragon eggs.* CuteBruiser:** Handel and Greta.** Especially Greta in the Firework Factory level; she whooped those ninjas' asses!* DeadpanSnarker: Spyro can be this at times.* DefrostingIceQueen: Bianca. She wears less and less clothing throughout ''Year of the Dragon'' as this happens; she starts off in a cloak and ends up [[TertiarySexualCharacteristics in a halter top]].* DegradedBoss: Buzz, the first boss in ''YOTD'', reappears as one of the Mooks the third boss, Scorch, spits out from an egg.* EggMcGuffin: The Egg Thieves take this trope and run with it.* EscortMission: The alchemist in the second game and the firefly twins in the third.* EvilSorcerer: Ripto and the Sorceress.* FamilyUnfriendlyViolence: You're killing things all the time, even children (think of the Breezebuilder Chicks) and random animals to get butterflies from. At times it seems like cartoon violence, but you're obviously roasting and breaking beings. Their ''spirits'' appear at times. Death is also a common joke in cutscenes.* FatBastard: Moneybags* FighterMageThief: It's subtle but Gnasty Gnorc fits the Warrior archetype with his mace, armor and overall warrior appearance; Ripto fits the thief archetype by being the craftiest and preferring to rely on surprise attacks and bombs over brute force or skill in magic; and the Sorceress fits the mage archetype by having the greatest skill and range of magic.* FloatingContinent: A lot of the levels seem to be floating in the sky, so falling off the edge of the world will send Spyro plummeting into an abyss.* FollowTheMoney: The gems in the first three games would often indicate hidden treasures and passageways.* FreelookButton: Can be used for looking around, and aiming the projectiles that Spyro can spit in the latter two.* FreeRotatingCamera: With the shoulder buttons, upgraded Sparx can be used with them to track down treasure.* FurryConfusion:** Bianca is an anthropomorphic rabbit in a game where Spyro kills rabbits for health, and sometimes she'll appear in the very same level as the rabbit fodder. Try not to think about it too much.** The Sorceress used a rabbit fodder to create the first Boss in ''YOTD''...** There are the {{Funny Animal}}s, then there are non-anthropomorphic animals that appear to have at least some anthro behaviors.** Sunny Beach in the second game has [[SlidingScaleOfAnthropomorphism funny animals and animalistic animals]] side-by-side, without the animalistic ones acting as fodder. You are asked by a [[FunnyAnimal talking turtle, sitting in its own shell like a chair,]] to guide three [[FunnyAnimal shell-less, running baby turtles]] to the other side of the level. But to get them there, you have to open gates by pushing completely turtle-like turtles onto floor switches. Each orb quest in the level involves freeing baby versions of these same turtle-like turtles.* GottaCollectThemAll: Frozen dragons and dragon eggs in the first game, talismans and orbs in the second game, dragon eggs ''again'' in the third game, and of course the gems through the entire trilogy.* {{Gotterdammerung}}: The Sorceress forced the dragons out of what is now known as the Forgotten Worlds a thousand years prior, causing them to take residence on the other side of the world and restore their society there. Little did she know, though, that the dragons were the key to the magic of the Forgotten Worlds...* GreenHillZone: All of the games feature one of these as the first Home World.* GrimyWater: ALL the water in the first game, just the weirdly colored water in ''Ripto's Rage!'' and ''Year of the Dragon''.* HeelFaceRevolvingDoor: ''Spyro himself''. From ''Ripto's Rage'' onward, the speedway levels usually have him terrorizing otherwise friendly characters, and then going back to benevolence in either its secret mission or back in the regular levels.* HonestJohnsDealership: Moneybags usually does sell products that work, but he doesn't always sell to those who can actually make use of them, which they naturally don't learn until after the purchase when he's nowhere to be found.* IconicSequelCharacter: Ripto was the BigBad of the second game. He reappeared as the lead villain, not in the trilogy but in the later games not made by Insomniac. Hunter appeared in the same game, staying a major character in the next Insomniac game and in the majority of the series after, enough to even make it into the ''Legend'' series (albeit in a radically altered form with completely different characterization).* InterspeciesRomance:** The original trilogy is full of this. Spyro the dragon is implied to have a thing for Elora the faun, Hunter the cheetah falls in love with Bianca the rabbit (which adds CarnivoreConfusion to the mix), and Sgt. Byrd the flying penguin falls in love with a very humanoid fairy, and that's only naming a few.** [[StarcrossedLovers Princess Ami of the fairies and Prince Azrael of the cat wizards]]. The fairies and wizards won't accept their relationship (in fact, the fairies mislead Spyro into thinking Ami has been abducted against her will, and must be saved). The two [[CrowningMomentOfHeartwarming decide to elope]], riding a [[NinjaPirateZombieRobot magical flying motorcycle]] to the sunset.** There's also Romeo and Juliet, a Land Blubber (giant purple grub) and a bird, in Zephyr.* LullDestruction: The Japanese version of the first two games had added voice acting for whenever Spyro jumped or dashed.** The cutscenes had a bit of this as well. Compare the [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GJ6m18ySYDM&feature=related Japanese version]] to the [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bf3X1l0dL-I original version]] to see how much added dialogue there is. For starters, Sparx can talk.** The cutscenes that played at the beginning and the end of each level definitely had [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=opeFEhhiYAk this]].* MascotWithAttitude: During the original trilogy especially; there were even ads with Spyro "beating" Mario.* TheNapoleon: Ripto, Spyro even taunts him about his height.* PalmtreePanic: Sunny Beach in ''Ripto's Rage!'', and Seashell Shore in ''Year of the Dragon''.* PassThroughTheRings: In the speedway levels. ''Year Of The Dragon'' adds blue stars that increase Spyro's flying speed with a spin and red stars that grant him a {{homing|projectile}} rocket.* PintsizedPowerhouse:** Handel and Greta. In the second game, they're surrounded by mooks, setting up a BolivianArmyEnding and then... RedEyesTakeWarning is [[OhCrap the sign they're gonna]] ''[[CrowningMomentOfAwesome beat the everloving crap out of everyone]]''. [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pI37QR_MgBY&feature=player_embedded No, really.]] [[UpToEleven And let's not talk about Greta in the sequel.]]** Also the protagonist, which is sort of the point of the games.* PlatformingPocketPal: Sparx functions as this for Spyro, and in the third game, also for the other playable characters. * PopStarComposer: [[Music/ThePolice Stewart Copeland]] did the music for the original trilogy, with some help from Ryan Beveridge in the 3rd.* PortalNetwork: The setting is made up of various distinct locations whose populations make heavy use of portals to get between them. The first game had Spyro exit levels through whirlwinds though. Spyro also ''glides'' through portals, suggesting they are useless to those without good jumping ability and don't immediately deposit people to the intended goal.* PowerUpMagnet: Sparx the dragonfly, mainly by grabbing gems.* TheProfessor: The Professor of course!* StarcrossedLovers:** Romeo the landblubber and Juliet the breezebuilder in Zephyr in "Spyro 2"** In ''Year of the Dragon'', Princess Ami of the fairies and Prince Azrael of the cat wizards in Charmed Ridge. The two eventually run off to elope.* SchizoTech: Medieval elements in the first three games are used quite a lot, but there's also domed robot cities (Metropolis) and metal cities on the ocean (Metro Speedway), as well as smaller-scale technology mixes like electric floors in an area where the dragons still live on stilts in the swamp. It's quite rampant- though the ''Legend'' games eased up, ''Skylanders'' went right back to the chaotic mix.* SequenceBreaking: The "double jump" bug in the second game allows for massive amounts of this.* ShiftingSandLand: Cliff Town and Dry Canyon (as well as the Peace Keepers homeworld) in ''Spyro the Dragon'', Scorch in ''Spyro 2'', and Desert Ruins in ''Year of the Dragon''.* ShoutOut:** An odd one in ''Year of the Dragon'' to ''Never Cry Wolf'', a book by Farley Mowat. An NPC named Mowat has you look for his pet wolf, Farley. At one point he says "Don't cry, wolf. Never cry, wolf!"** Upon rescuing Tomas in Gnorc Cove:-->'''Spyro:''' [[VideoGame/ParappaTheRapper You gotta believe!]]** In the third game Spyro gives us this line: "The rumors of our extinction were greatly exaggerated".** The second game has one of the wizards in the Cloud Temples stage claiming that he knew the magic words to take Spyro straight to Dragon Shores: [[KlaatuBaradaNikto "Klaatu, barada, ni- nuh- na... Never mind."]]** In ''Year of the Dragon'', there's a side mission as Agent 9, which is entirely a first-person shooter. The description in the atlas to get the egg for completing this is called "You're [[VideoGame/{{Doom}} Doomed!]]"** Again in ''YOTD'', if you don't pay Moneybags to let Sgt. Byrd out, he tells you, surprisingly, [[Creator/{{MontyPython}} "You better hurry, I think he's pining for the fjords."]]** Later on, he also tells you "Don't make a wizard angry, I might just have to turn you into a [[Franchise/SonicTheHedgehog blue hedgehog]]."** At one point in the third game you meet a mouse {{expy}} of [[Franchise/TombRaider Lara Croft]].** Still in ''Year Of The Dragon'', in the Charmed Ridge, the catpeople's prince is named "Azrael". [[ComicBook/TheSmurfs Now, where else can we see a brown cat named Azrael?]]...* SomeKindOfForceField: Some realms use these to keep Spyro in the level proper. They are marked with small structures placed every few yards, presumably acting as fenceposts to the barrier itself. If Spyro charges into an invisible barrier, he'll be knocked back as if he hit a wall, and the spot that he hit will flash for a second afterward.** Funnily enough, cheating, glitching, or otherwise managing to get Spyro higher than he can manage during normal gameplay shows that these barriers aren't very tall, and the land behind them remains solid for a pretty good stretch of space before it ends.* SugarBowl: Pretty much played straight in the first three games, although with a dish of attitude. It's gone by the time {{Creator/Sierra}} stepped in though.* SuperDrowningSkills: In the first game. Also applies to any non-clear water in later games.* SuperNotDrowningSkills: Once Spyro learns how to swim in the second game, he can stay underwater indefinitely. The baby dragons rescued in the third game can do it from birth.* UnexpectedGameplayChange** Played with in ''Ripto's Rage'' with some of the minigames, becomes incredibly prevalent in ''Year of the Dragon''. ''YOTD'' included game mechanics like skate parks, speedways, first-person shooter levels, different vehicles, different playable characters with different game mechanics, and at least one minigame in each level. Compare this to the first game, which only had the Speedways.* VideoGameLives: Tied to DynamicDifficulty in the third game, not dying makes the game harder, losing too many lives makes 100% completion impossible.[[/folder]]

[[folder:The games released between the classic and ''The Legend of Spyro'' trilogies]]* BreakoutVillain: Ripto and his goons were revived and became Spyro's ArchEnemy for many games of this era. Gnasty Gnorc also made a few more minor returns.* CrossOver: ''Spyro Orange: The Cortex Conspiracy'' with ''Franchise/CrashBandicoot''. Spyro also cameoed in ''VideoGame/CrashTwinsanity'' and was an unlockable racer in ''VideoGame/CrashNitroKart''.* FetchQuest: Pretty much all of the games, but ''Attack of the Rhynocs'' is especially bad at this, to the point where the entire gameplay is just fetching items to fetch other items to fetch the World Hearts.* MookCarryover: Ripto takes over the rhynocs, who were first the minions of The Sorceress.* OddballInTheSeries: ''Spyro Orange: The Cortex Conspiracy'' looks and plays jarringly different from the other portable titles, being a CrossOver minigame title made by a different developer.* PromotedToPlayable: Hunter, despite being a prominent ally, was an NPC for most of the series outside a few vehicle mini games. He finally becomes fully playable in ''A Hero's Tail''.* SameCharacterButDifferent: While not as blatant as the ''Legend'' series, ''A Hero's Tail'' made a light reboot of the series, where several characters were altered and redesigned significantly. Since it was the final mainstream game before the ''Legend'' series however, the retool didn't take on for very long.[[/folder]]----